Top roll carrier arrangement



June 5, 1962 RFHURLEBAUS ET AL TOP ROLL CARRIER ARRANGEMENT 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 10, 1959 June 5, 1962 R. HURLEBAUS ET AL TOP ROLL CARRIER ARRANGEMENT 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 10. 1959 June 5, 1962 R. HURLEBAUS ET AL 3,037,249

TOP ROLL CARRIER ARRANGEMENT Filed Dec. 10, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORISI Rezb/w/d Hw/ebaas BY 1805 Kramer United States Patent Ofifice 3,037,249 Patented June 5, 1962 3,037,249 T01 HULL QARRIER ARRANGEMENT Reinhold Hurlehaus, Ehershach (Fits), and Butt Kraerner,

Stuttgart-Feuerhach, Germany, assiguors to SKF Kugeilagerfabriken Geselischaft rnit heschranltter Haf= tung, Schweint'urt, Germany, a company of Germany Filed Dec. 10, 1959, Ser. No. 858,742 Claims priority, application Germany Dec. 23, 1953 6 Ciaims. (Cl. 19-232) This invention relates to textile drafting mechanism, and more particularly to a top roll carrier arrangement in which the top rolls are received in individually weighted guide arms mounted on a common carrier arm.

The utility of drafting mechanism is enhanced by adaptability to different operating conditions, and various arrangements have heretofore been employed to permit those changes in top roll spacing and weighting which widen the range of usefulness of the mechanism. Application of the hitherto known devices of this type still is limited to relatively narrow fields, for example ring spinning machines, so that for roving frames and the drafting of long fibres, for example worsted or the like, special constructions are necessary in each case to take care of the necessary pressures and top-roll spacing. Such special constructions naturally involve comparatively high expenditure on first cost and, as already indicated, can only be used in a specific field.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a carrier arm for textile drafting mechanisms, which, by a simple adjustment, can be used in various fields without additional members being necessary.

With this primary object in view, the invention provides an elongated carrier arm on which a guide arm support is mounted. The support is longitudinally adjustable along the carrier arm. An elongated roll guide arm has a terminal portion pivoted to the guide arm support. The free end of the guide arm carries a top roll which, during pivoting movement of the arm, is moved toward and away from the drafting area. Biasing means, such as a spring, are provided on the support for urging the free terminal portion, and thus the top roll, toward the drafting area. A motion transmitting member is interposed between the guide arm and the biasing means and engages alternatively one (of a plurality of longitudinally spaced bearing means on the guide arm.

In its more specific aspects, the invention provides a plurality of guide arms allocated to a top-roll carrier and weighting arm. The guide arms are of different lengths and, with their weighting means, are interchangeable. At least one guide arm affords a plurality of alternative bearings spaced apart longitudinally of the guide arm to receive a pressure member allocated to the weighting means of the said guide arm. As a result of this arrangement, the guide arms which, with their weighting means, are displaceable as units in the carrier arm, can, with their step-by-step or infinitely variable weighting means, be

identical in construction apart from their length so that the particular pressure required can be set, in a simple manner, at the individual top rolls.

As a result of the interposition of the pressure mem ber between the free end of the weighting means when constructed in the form of a spring, and the guide arm, it is possible, by adopting the invention, to increase the number of pressure steps, for example by double the amount, because the pressure member may be received either in a bearing near to the fulcrum of the guide arm or in a bearing nearer to the top roll. In this manner, the point of action of the pressure member on the guide arm and hence also the particular leverage may be varied, even though the pressure of the free end of the spring on the pressure member remains constant.

As a result of the interchangeability of the units, the carrier arm can be put to varied applications, and, with appropriate setting of the weighting pressure, can thus be equipped with three or four top rolls for dealing with drawing-frame sliver or for slubbing machines, or with three top rolls, for example, as a carrier arm for ring spinning machines, and also, with a suitable exchange of the units and adjustment of the weighting pressures, it may be used for dealing with long fibres such as worsted or the like. For this latter purpose, for example, the longest guide arm may be arranged at the delivery side and the shorter guide arms in the middle or at the feed side, within the length of the carrier arm. The middle rolls may then be constructed in the form of control rolls, for example in such a manner that the sliver runs between two lateral flanges of the top roll and is not gripped. As a result of the pressure variation mentioned already, the particular weighting pressure required, particularly at the top delivery roll, can also be obtained in a simple manner by inserting the pressure member in the foremost bearing position, facing the top roll, in the guide arm at the delivery side and setting the Weighting spring to its maximum action.

The pressure member preferably comprises a stem which reaches into the bearing provided in the guide arm and has downwardly directed shoulders to bear on the guide arm, and also comprises an off-set seating to receive the weighting pressure, and the mutual spacing of the aforesaid alternative bearings in the guide aim corresponds substantially to double the distance which the said seating is offset from the stem of the pressure member. More than two alternative bearings may be provided in one guide arm, in which case the pressure member may be correspondingly provided with a plurality of se-atings for the free end of the weighting means.

In order to obtain a definite location of the pressure member in relation to the guide arm and hence a definite determination of the effective leverage, it is advantageous to arrange that the stem of the pressure member is received between two opposite surfaces of the bearing when in the operating position in such manner as to be precluded from twisting about its longitudinal axis in relation to the guide arm. The bearings may be machined in the guide arms, for example in the form of rectangular openings, and so be produced in a simple manner from the manufacturing point of view.

Preferably, the aforesaid non-twisting reception of the pressure member in the bearing may be obtained by arranging that the lower portion of the stem of the pressure member is formed with a longitudinal rib which engages one face of the bearing while the two margins of the other side of the pressure member engage the opposite face of the hearing.

In order to distinguish the individual pressure ranges, it is advisable to mark the guide arms in the region of their bearings and the individual setting steps of the associated weighting means, for example of the holder, so that the pressures to be set for .a specific type of application can be determined in a simple manner. Similarly, it is advisable to provide the guide arms and the carrier arm with coinciding marks to indicate specific applications of the mechanism. These marks may be applied in such a manner that the arrangement of the guide arms in the carrier arm is indicated on the latter when the carrier arm is for use on a slubbing frame, or on a ring spinning machine or for dealing with sliver or normal roving or long fibres such as worsted or the like.

The exact nature of this invention as well as other objects and advantages thereof will be readily apparent from consideration of the following specification relating to the annexed drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side elevational View of a drafting mechanism including an embodiment of the top roll carrier arm arrangement of the invention;

FIG. 2 shows one of the guide arms and weighting devices of the apparatus of FIG. 1 in side elevation, with a portion broken away to show the interior elements thereof;

FIG. 3 shows the device of FIG. 2 when set for higher roll pressure;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a guide arm of FIG. 2 without its weighting device;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of part of the guide arm and of the pressure member on an enlarged scale in comparison with the preceding figures;

FIG. 6 is a section on the line VI-VI of FIG. 5;

FIGS. 7 to 9 show the top-roll carrier and weighting arm of FIG. 1 as arranged for three different applications; and

FIG. is a perspective view of the device of FIG. 2, partly broken away, and partly in phantom view.

Like reference numerals indicate like parts throughout the drawings.

A top-roll carrier-and-weighting arm 1, which is substantially U-shaped in cross-section, is pivotally mounted in a bracket 3 held in a supporting bar 2 fixed in the drafting machine frame, and is actuated by a lever 4. By means of a locking mechanism, which is not illustrated in the drawing, the carrier arm 1 is locked to the bracket 3 in the operative position shown in FIG. 1 and, if desired, it can also be locked in its raised or inoperative position, not shown. Yoke-shaped holders 5 are adiustably received inside the carrier arm 1 and can be located in their chosen positions by fixing bolts 6 reaching through a longitudinal slot in the carrier arm. The weighting means, in the form of a helically coiled wire spring 7, is mounted between the two downwardly extending sides of the holder 5 on a shaft 8 and can be adjusted in tension by rotation of the shaft in slots formed in the sides of the holder 5. The slots have each an open and a closed end. The individual operating settings, .and hence the individual steps in the pressure exerted by the spring 7 are determined by notches 10 which are provided on discs 9 rotatable with the shaft 8. As best seen from FIGS. 2, 3, and 10 the shaft 8 is urged by the spring 7 towards the closed end of the slots in holder 5, and engagement of one of the notches 19 with an edge portion of the holder 5. The free end of the spring 7 acts on a motion transmitting elongated pressure member 11 which is bent at an angle at both ends and which, at its lower end, has shoulders 11, best seen in FIG. 6, which bear down on a guide arm 12. This is pivoted about a pin 13 in the holder 5 and, at its free end, is constructed in the form of a saddle 12' to receive twin top rolls 14. The portion of the pressure member 11 below the shoulders 11' reaches through a substantially rectangular opening 12" constituting a hearing in the guide arm 12, and the bent lower end of the pressure member 11 prevents the guide arm 12 from swinging down too far when the bent upper end of the pressure member 11 rests against an angle-shaped stop 5' on the holder 5 (FIGS. 2 and 10). The upper end of the member 11 is provided with an off-set seating 19, in the form of a depression, see FIGS. 5, 6, and 10 for the free end of the spring 7.

In order to offer adequate support for the pressure member 11 in the bearing 12" in the guide arm 12, a central corrugation or longitudinal rib 11 (FIGS. 5 and 6) is formed in the lower portion of the pressure member and engages a Wide face of the bearing 12" while the other side of the pressure member is formed with a central depression which defines two ribs on the outer margins of the pressure member 11. The latter ribs engage the opposite face of the bearing 12". In this member, the pressure member 11 is prevented from twisting about its longitudinal axis in relation to the guide arm 12.

As can be seen from FIGS. 4 to 6, each guide arm 12 comprises two bearings 12" so that, when the pressure member 11 is changed over from the setting shown in FIG. 2 into the setting shown in FIG. 3, as described below, a variation is obtained in the point of action of the force of the pressure member on the guide arm and hence in the pressure of the top roll 1:- on the bottom roll 15 is illustrated in FIGS. 1. In this manner, with the three pressure steps of the weighting spring 7 afforded by the notches 1ft illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, a total of six different pressures can be obtained on the particular top roll 14, by inserting the pressure member 11, at each pressure step of the weighting spring 7, either in that bearing 12 which is the nearer to the top roll or the saddle 12, or in the other bearing 12" which is the nearer to the 13 of the guide arm 12. The reversal in the setting of the pressure member 11 is effected very simply. The portion engaging through the guide arm is slid out of the bearing 12" by a curvilinear movement, and the pressure member, before being inserted in the adjacent bearing, is turned through about its longitudinal axis, i.e. substantially about an axis passing through the center of its seating 19 for the free end of the spring 7. The mutual spacing of the alternative bearings 12" is substantially double the distance which the seating 19 is off-set from the stem of the pressure member.

The construction according to the invention, in conjunction with the use of guide arms 12 of various lengths, permits various applications of the invention to be made, as indicated in FIGS. 7 to 9.

In the case of the carrier arm 1 illustrated in FIG. 7, an arrangement is shown which is applicable to drafting frame sliver or to a slubbing machine. The guide arm 12, which is received at the delivery side of the carrier arm 1, together with the holder 5, the pressure member 11 and the associated Weighting spring 7, is designated, as a unit, by I, which the following units are designated II to IV. The guide arms of the individual units I to IV are each weighted with the particular pressure necessary, the pressure members II being inserted, as required, in the bearing 12" nearer to the top roll 14 or the one nearer to the pin 13 of the guide arm 12 and the springs 7 being set to their appropriate pressure steps. Naturally, the units I to IV, in addition to their mutual interchangeability in a carrier arm, also permit an adjustment in the order illustrated in FIG. 7, in order to ensure adaptation to various lengths of fibre within a range determined by the sequence of the units.

If the carrier arm 1 illustrated in FIG. 7 is to be used on a ring spinning machine, for example, for spinning a normal roving such as cotton, then it is suflicient to remove the unit IV from the carrier arm 1, which is effected by undoing the appropriate fixing bolt 6. In this case, the middle top roll, that is to say the unit II, can be provided with an apron 16, which is indicated in dotted lines in FIG. 8 and which is guided, in the usual manner, for example by guide means connected to the top roll 14 and the guide arm 12. With the layout shown in FIG. 8, the units I, II and III can also be adjusted in longitudinal position in the carrier arm 1 and so be adapted to the particular length of fibre and required top-roll spacing.

Finally, FIG. 9 illustrates a possible setting for dealing with very long fibres, such as Worsted. In this case, the longest guide arm, which is received in the unit IV, is placed at the delivery side of the carrier arm 1, while the unit III is arranged in the middle and the unit II at the feed side of the carrier arm 1. In order to obtain the high pressure necessary for spinning worsted with correspondingly long fibres, the pressure member 11 of unit IV is inserted in the bearing 12 nearer the top roll or the top roll saddle 12', as shown in FIG. 3, and the spring 7 is set to its maximum pressure by choosing the appropriate notch 10 in the disc 9. In this case the guide arm 12 of the unit III may either be weighted with a very low pressure which does not cause any gripping of the fibres or be equipped with a top roll of known form which comprises a circumferential channel between two lateral flanges to guide and drive the apron, so that the fibres are not gripped. -A top apron 17, which is guided over the roll of the unit III and a cooperating apron bar or the like, and a corresponding bottom apron 18 which is likewise guided over a bottom roll 15 and an apron bar, may be used, as indicated in chain lines in FIG. 9 of hte drawing.

The individual units I to IV may be distinguished, for example, by marks or symbols on the holders or on the guide arms 12, say nearer their bearings 12" in order to indicate the particular weighting pressures for the individual pressure steps of the Weighting spring 7 and the individual positions of the pressure member 11, while markings may be provided on the units I to IV and on the carrier arm 1, to indicate specific applications of the invention for given sequences of the units I to IV. These marks or distinguishing signs may be arranged at any convenient points on the carrier arm 1 or on the holder 5 or on the guide arms 12 and may be adapted to the many particular requirements and circumstances.

The individual bearings 12" and the pressure members 11 and their mode of reception inside the bearings may be modified. It is likewise possible to provide three or more bearings instead of the two bearings 12" shown in each guide arm 12, in which case a corresponding number of seatings 19 for the free end of the weighting spring 7 should be provided, at a predetermined distance apart on the upper angled end of the pressure member 11.

As already mentioned, as a result of the arrangement and formation of the guide arms according to the invention, it is possible to provide a carrier arm which can be used in practice with the majority of types of fibres. In addition, with suitable dimensioning of the length of the carrier arm 1 it is possible to provide for its use with fibres of excessive length.

It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing disclosure relates to only a preferred embodiment of the invention, and that it is intended to cover all changes and modifications of the example of the invention herein chosen for the purpose of the disclosure which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed and desired to be protected by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A top roll carrier arm arrangement for a textile drafting mechanism, comprising, in combination, an elongated carrier arm; a guide arm support mounted on said carrier arm and longitudinally adjustable thereon; an elongated roll guide arm having a terminal portion pivoted to said support and a free terminal portion adapted to receive a drafting roll for movement thereof with said free terminal portion toward and away from a drafting area; biasing means mounted on said support for urging said free terminal portion toward said drafting area; and a pressure member interposed between said guide arm and said biasing means for releasable and varying engagements therewith, said guide arrn providing a plurality of longitudinally spaced bearings for selective engagement with said pressure member, the pressure member being formed so as to transmit pressure from one and the same point to any one of said spacedly provided bearings.

2. A top roll carrier arm arrangement for a textile drafting mechanism, comprising, in combination, an elongated carrier arm; at least a single guide arm support mounted on said carrier arm and longitudinally adjustable thereon; at least a single elongated roll guide arm having a terminal portion pivoted to said support and a free terminal portion adapted to receive a drafting roll for movement thereof with said free terminal portion toward and away froma drafting area; biasing means mounted on said support for urging said free terminal portion t0- ward said drafting area; and an elongated pressure member having a first and second end portion to releas-ably and adjustably engage said guide arm and said biasing means respectively, said two end portions being longitudinally spaced, said guide arm providing a plurality of longitudinally spaced bearings for selective engagement by said pressure member, said second end portion being formed so as to transmit pressure from one and the same point to any one of said spacedly provided bearings.

3. In the top roll carrier arrangement as set forth in claim 2, a plurality of guide arm supports interchangeably mounted on said carrier arm in longitudinally spaced positions; a plurality of elongated roll guide arms, each having a terminal portion pivotally mounted on one of said supports and a free terminal portion adapted to receive a drafting roll, said free terminal portion moving toward and away from a drafting area during pivoting movement of the respective guide arm; biasing means mounted on each of said supports for urging the free terminal portions toward said drafting area; and a pressure member interposed between each of said guide arms and the respective biasing means, at least one of said guide arms providing said plurality of longitudinally spaced bearings for selective engagement by said pressure member.

4. In a top roll carrier arrangement as set forth in claim 3, adjusting means movably mounted on said supports for adjusting the urging force of each of said biasing means; and index markings on said supports and said biasing means for ascertaining the force of said biasing means from the relative position of said adjusting means and said biasing means.

5. In the top roll carrier arrangement as set forth in claim 2, said pressure member having a longitudinal axis, said second end portion extending away from said axis to engage said biasing means at a predetermined distance from said axis, said guide arm providing two bearings longitudinally spaced thereon in a direction transverse of said axis twice said predetermined distance.

6. In the top roll carrier arrangement as set forth in claim 2, said bearing means being constituted by recesses in the guide arm for selective engagement by said first end portion, said recesses having two axially extending opposite faces, said first end portion being formed with an axially extending rib engaging one of said faces, and with two axially extending spaced ribs engaging the other face.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,819,497 Dausch Jan. 14, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 742,317 Great Britain Dec. 21, 1955 

